


A Lost Memory

by OlkarianPrincess



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 07:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16656547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlkarianPrincess/pseuds/OlkarianPrincess
Summary: The Paladins discover an image that awakens a lost memory they all share from their childhood. One day, they all had a chance meeting at the Garrison base they would eventually enroll in.





	A Lost Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Collab w/ @uragirinoteme whose wonderful art piece can be found [here.](https://uragirinoteme.tumblr.com/post/174629381527/we-are-given-the-go-to-post-our-full-pieces-for)

“This was not the plan, guys. NOT. THE. PLAN.”

Pidge ignored the shouts blasting over the comms and into her helmet. Addressing Hunk’s freakout would have to wait - Allura and Matt were in trouble. She gave the Black Paladin beside her one quick glance before finalizing her decision to change the plan that Keith had  _ insisted _ they stick to and stepped out into the hallway, in plain view of any passing sentries on the Galra ship. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she inhaled deeply before letting her voice fill the air, “We’re over here bitc-”

Shiro’s hand clamped over her mouth. “I think they get the message,” he grinned. “Now let’s go.”

Pidge nodded in response and the two paladins took off down the hallway and away from the sentries that were sure to follow.

“Well that got their attention,” Lance’s voice joined Hunk’s laughter on the comms. “Thanks for the distraction.”

“It wasn’t a terrible idea, Pidge,” Shiro confirmed as he and the Green Paladin skirted around a corner, narrowly avoiding the barrage of fire at their heels. The duo stopped and readied their bayards, prepared to hold their ground against the oncoming sentries. “But I’m telling Matt you said a bad language word.”

“I heard,” Matt’s voice cut in, “Pidge, I’m going to have words with you later!” His tone held a hint of amusement.

“This was supposed to be a covert mission. COVERT,” Allura yelled.

Pidge winced as the Princess’s voice made her ears ring. She made a mental note to calibrate the volume settings on her helmet.

“Sorry about that, Princess,” Shiro responded as the sentries rounded the corner. They were no match for the Green and Black Paladins. “Once we’re finished cleaning up here, we’ll regroup at your location. Hear that boys?”

A cacophony of “Yes sir!” erupted from the comms. 

“I’m not a boy,” Pidge teased as she drove her bayard through the final sentry.

“True,” Shiro laughed, “I figured you’d be coming with me to meet up with everyone anyway, but I guess technically now you don’t have to.”

She snorted and they took off in the direction of the ship’s command center, arriving just in the nick of time. Matt and Allura were cornered by the ship’s general, his bridge’s crew, and several of his personal elite warriors. Hunk and Lance reached the location at the same time, and the tide of the battle was turned. With five paladins and a notorious rebel fighter, the Galra stood less than a percent of a chance. In no time, the bridge was cleared and the general waved the flag of surrender.

“Did you get it, Keith?” Allura asked once the Galra threat had been subdued.

“Yes, Princess. Let’s get the ships and get out of here,” Keith’s voice echoed through everyone’s comms. The mission was a success. While they had done all the fighting, Keith had obtained the information that they’d required. It was time to take a break and go home - the mission may have seemed small, but it was a major victory.

Once the lions had safely returned to the castle, the paladins, Matt, and Coran gathered around the data Pidge was projecting on the bridge. Secret base locations, transportation logs, even details on classified projects - the files held it all. The group couldn’t believe their eyes. They’d hit a gold mine. It was still a mystery as to why this information was carried on that particular Galra cruiser, but the information was useful nonetheless. As Pidge pointed out various images, expanding them so that everyone could get a closer look, Lance stopped her.

“Wait, what’s that?” he pointed to a small image almost buried in the collage of data.

“That’s-” Pidge squinted, tapping on the hologram and expanding it with a flick of her wrist. The humans in the room held their breath.

“That’s the ship,” Keith said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

“No...it can’t be...” Hunk turned to look at his fellow Earthlings, “can it?”

“Excuse me, but will someone explain what is going on?” Allura finally cut in. Although her voice had a bite to it, worry resided in her heart.

Lance turned to her, a tear forming in the corner of his eye, “An old memory.”

~

**Pidge** stood before the grand Garrison compound, mouth hanging open in awe.  It was a particularly warm day and her mom had let her wear her new dress. Green...the dress was green. They were going with Matt to visit the Garrison where her father worked. Matt’s whole class was going on a field trip. The whole event had been such an ordeal that she’d remember it for years to come...but somehow she forgot about the ship. The ship had been there, standing proud in all its majesty, before her own eyes. It was a marvel, a true masterpiece - the crowning achievement of science and technology, but it was hidden from the world. It wasn’t in front of the Garrison that she’d seen it, rather deep inside the compound. She had been trailing after her parents when one of the cadets had caught her eye. The little robot in her hand was so fascinating, and Pidge had wanted to hold it so bad. Breaking away from the group, she chased after the cadet with hair so dark it was almost blue, only to get lost as her short stride was no match for the girl’s. She felt the tears build in her eyes, and then she saw him - the boy with the black hair. He didn’t look like he belonged either.

~

**Shiro** would never forget the time he’d gone with Keith’s class to visit the Garrison. The moment he took his eyes off of Keith, the sneaky boy had disappeared, his glasses-wearing friend surely in tow. Shiro recalled sighing as he reluctantly slipped out of the lecture an officer was giving on piloting spacecraft and traced the groups tour. Surely Keith had spotted something interesting and went off to investigate. When the public area of the building had been thoroughly inspected, he groaned and followed a busy woman through a door to the restricted area. Everything was quiet as he walked through the hall, mumbling to himself the entire time about the various things he’d do to Keith when he caught the little troublemaker - have him do his laundry, for sure - when a noise in a connecting hallway made him jump. Dashing for the nearest doorknob, his heart raced as he was unable to pull it open. Footsteps stopped behind him and he recollected his breath. Shiro turned, only to see the wide eyes of a young girl.

“Hi, I’m Katie,” she said, a bright smile on her face.

~

**Hunk** and Lance had been friends since grade school. Even then, Lance found a way to drag him into danger. There was a particular instance that brought them to the edge of expulsion. It was the one day of the year when their school, along with several others, visited the Garrison. They had been doing fine following the group around when suddenly a suspicious cart covered by a cloth caught Lance’s eye. He yanked on Hunk’s hand and pulled him into a jog behind the cart, which a man was pushing away. Just as they were about to reach him, he turned a corner and disappeared. It was then that they realized they’d made it into the restricted area of the Garrison. 

“Laaaaance, we have to go!” Hunk had whined.

“No, look at all this cool stuff!”

He began to sniffle and turned away from his friend to hide the building tears. They were soon forgotten, however, as he finally laid eyes on the space beyond the glass window that stood before him. An area that held a magnificent, state-of-the-art spaceship.

“Lance!”

~

**Lance** had forgotten about the ship, but his mother never let him forget the incident that occured at the Garrison. Being caught in restricted area was a big no-no, and yet the two had gotten off with a minor warning. For most of his life, he thought they’d found a bunch of old junk and were then caught, but the image of the ship brought back the real mystery they’d stumbled upon. 

“Lance!” Hunk’s voice pulled him out of his train of thought and he pouted as he turned to see what the other boy had found.

“Woah,” he immediately pressed his hands up to the glass, “we have to go see it!”

“No, no, no. Bad idea Lance!”

Lance laughed and grabbed his friend by the hand, dragging him to the nearest exit. Unfortunately, it was locked. Frowning, Lance turned to Hunk. He knew that his friend could get them out, but Hunk was also very unwilling. Fortunately, puppy dog eyes seemed to be the taller boy’s weakness. Just as Hunk finally gave in, a hand dropped down on each of the boys’ heads.

“What are you doing here?”

~

**Keith** had a reputation as a troublemaker, even as a kid, but little did everyone know that his friend Matt was the one that initiated things. Which is why, even when Matt confessed to coercing Keith into sneaking into the Garrison’s restricted area, no one believed it. Of course, they barely believed that the boys were able to get past the security, but it turned out that Garrison security was way below what it should’ve been. The day that nearly resulted in Keith having to transfer schools  _ again _ was highlighted by the marvelous ship that he and Matt got to see. They stood alone on the platform below it, gazing up at its beauty bathed in the glorious orange tint of a sunset sky. Their attention only drifted when they heard a set of footsteps behind him.

“Shiro?” Keith’s eyes widened.

“Katie!” Matt yelled.

“Wait that’s your sister?” Keith tried to take everything in all at one. “Who are they?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Lance, although Keith didn’t know him at the time, stuck his tongue out.

“We spotted you from the window...what is this?” the six kids refocused their attention on the ship. The only indication of its purpose were the words written on the side.

_ Space Shuttle Anistal _

“What are you kids doing here?” a man’s gruff voice called out. He was tall with white hair, and the tips of both of his ears were injured.

~

The paladins from earth exchanged knowing smiles with each other.

“When we were kids...when all of us were kids, we met,” Shiro tried explaining to Allura.

“We just didn’t remember it...until now,” Pidge turned back to the image - a picture of a large scrap of metal - and traced her hands over the word that it bore.  _ Anistal. _

“It’s probably nothing. The ship...the man...nothing,” Hunk scratched at the back of his neck.

“Yeah, nothing,” Matt looked over the faces of the paladins, “we just got in a lot of trouble.”

“Ah, well you know Allura got into plenty of trouble back in the day!” Coran joked, attempting to lift the uneasy air that had filled the room. “Why, she was known as quite the little troublemaker.”

“Coraaaaan,” Allura groaned, “they don’t need to hear this.”

“I don’t know, Princess, I think we do,” Lance cracked a smile.

Coran straightened his back, “Well when she was a kid, there was this one time...”

The room was suddenly filled with laughter as the Altean told his stories. Even Allura grinned, adding her own details in every once in a while and arguing about a few of Coran’s. Pidge shook her head, having a hard time imaging Allura as anything but a proper princess. When no one was looking, however, she turned her gaze back to the image that had caused such an unexpected revelation to come forward.

“Anistal, huh,” she muttered to herself before dispersing the display. 

The mystery had waited years to be uncovered, it could wait just a little longer.


End file.
